The imminent threat of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Singapore
Singapore medical journal
;
: 238-240, 2012.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-334517
ABSTRACT
The global emergence of multidrugresistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB threatens to derail the efforts of TB control programmes worldwide. From 2000 to 2010, 161 pulmonary MDR-TB cases (including six XDR-TB cases) were reported in Singapore, and of these, 80% occurred among the foreign-born, with an increasing trend seen after 2004. Among new pulmonary TB cases, the highest incidence of MDR-TB occurred among patients from Myanmar (8%), followed by Vietnam (4.4%) and China (2.3%), while among those previously treated, the highest incidence was found in patients from Vietnam (50%), followed by Indonesia (33%) and Bangladesh (33%). Although the proportion of Singapore-born pulmonary TB cases with MDR-TB has remained comparatively low (0.2% and 1.3% in new and previously treated cases, respectively), there is no room for complacency. Top priority must be accorded toward the proper treatment of drug-susceptible TB cases under strict programme conditions so as to prevent the development of MDR-TB in the first place.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Singapore
/
Epidemiology
/
Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant
/
Therapeutic Uses
/
Drug Therapy
/
Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
/
Emigrants and Immigrants
/
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
/
Antitubercular Agents
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Singapore medical journal
Year:
2012
Type:
Article
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